Thursday, October 17, 2013

Thu Oct 17th Todays News

ALP vs Labor is a bit like spy vs spy in Mad Magazine. The media tends to fold on the dotted lines to show what might seem reasonable to a poorly educated, highly ignorant person. But remove the media filter and a tragically hilarious image emerges with leading identities with hands in honey pots and pork barrels, highly critical members forgetting to wear clothing and not having the power of invisibility. Former members wanting to speak out when they were silent when they had power. Media examine Abbott's expenses but have ignored Williamson's corruption. But it isn't limited to Williamson. But by divorcing Williamson, his ex wife manufactures money .. or turns nurses upside down and shakes them so change falls out of their pockets. One tragedy called policy under the ALP was to drown desperate people who had been instructed to pay pirates if they wanted a good life in Australia. Former foreign minister Bob Carr doesn't even say sorry while suggesting he made a mistake. One blessing for the ALP is that they have an endless supply of fools. US has arrived at a budget deal. Press are lauding Obama for not blinking, but he does not come out well from this. Obama was the one who failed to walk to a negotiating table on any occasion. This will not be forgotten next year at election. ABC Fact checkers are making up detail on Carbon pricing around the world. And what is the fact surrounding Plibersek and sexism? Global warming, or a mistake as a new data point from Texas reads 71 degrees celsius? If it isn't weeded out, it will 'inform' the next IPCC report. Meaning more middle class people can call themselves victims. ABC will probably give themselves an award for inflating a mistake of their facts. It is a standard remedy of parliament that when a politician's platform is untenable they resign. The ALP don't. I did in '07, from teaching. I challenge anyone to say why I shouldn't now resume teaching again? Or be compensated. Mr O'Farrell, Mr Abbott, can you hear me?
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Tim Blair – Thursday,October 17,2013 (3:52pm)

Tim Blair – Thursday,October 17,2013 (1:27pm)

Lefties love to celebrate their own suffering. Trouble is, as the first world becomes ever more comfortable, our leftoids have fewer genuine issues to complain about. So they invent new grievances or exaggerate perceived inequities. This explains the latest shrieking form of feminism, which sees wealthy white women claiming oppression even when they hold the highest office in the land.

In a 1996 piece titled “Job and Matthew,” McKibben describes his arrival at college in 1978 as a liberal-leaning student with a suburban Protestant background. “My leftism grew more righteous in college,” he says, “but still there was something pro forma about it.” The problem? “Being white, male, straight, and of impeccably middle-class background, I could not realistically claim to be a victim of anything.”

At one point, in what he calls a “loony” attempt to claim the mantle of victimhood, McKibben nearly convinced himself that he was part Irish so he could don a black armband as Bobby Sands and fellow members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army died in a hunger strike. Yet even as he failed to persuade himself he was Irish, McKibben continued to enthusiastically support every leftist-approved victim group he could find. Nonetheless, something was missing. None of these causes seemed truly his own. When McKibben almost singlehandedly turned global warming into a public issue in 1989, his problem was solved. Now everyone could be a victim …

Global warming allows the upper-middle-class to join the proletariat, cloaking erstwhile oppressors in the mantle of righteous victimhood.

Tim Blair – Thursday,October 17,2013 (12:12pm)

A note to readers from the goodTim Blair following his epic charity race in Scotland:

This is just a quick email to say a massive thank you for your generous donation towards the fundraising I was doing for Epilepsy Research UK. With help from you and others like you, I managed to raise a staggering £12,900! ($21,549)

When I decided to race across Scotland to try and raise some much needed money for ERUK in memory of my cousin, Laurence, I couldn’t possibly have imagined the overwhelming generosity of people from around the world that I’d encounter: I’ve had donations large and small from across the world, many from people I don’t know and am unlikely to ever meet.

If you’d like to read a bit more about the whole journey, there’s a few posts on my race blog and a brief write up here. I’m planning on doing a proper, long-form report of the build up and race at some point in the near future.

We’ve raised a huge amount of money for an incredibly worthy charity. Thank you for being part of that, and allowing something good to come from such a tragedy.

Thank you so much again,

Tim (and family).

(Via Beertruk in Toowoomba, one of many readers who contributed to Tim’s cause.)

Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen has called for his colleagues to treat Kevin Rudd with respect,
following a stinging broadside from former attorney-general Nicola
Roxon, which slammed the former prime minister as a rude ‘’bastard’’ who
should quit politics…
‘’All former Labor leaders are deserving of a place in the party’s
history and they should be accorded the respect that the Labor Party has
traditionally given to former leaders,’’ Mr Bowen told ABC Radio.

‘’I think that applies to Julia Gillard and I think it applies to Kevin Rudd.’’

Yet another academic,
Gideon Boas, treats dead boat people as useful platform to advertise his
more moral feelings, which licenses him to write for the grateful Age a stream of sustained vilification of
everyone with contrary views on border policy to his own. Anyone who
thinks that boat people should be stopped must just be racists, you
see:

Bob Carr is a dinosaur feeding the hungry beast of racism in this
country.... kicking already persecuted and downtrodden people… The race
to the moral bottom on refugee and asylum seeker policy already reached
perverse proportions during the election campaign… whose entire message
is about fear and isolationism… Tony Abbott’s policy should be renamed
‘’Operation No Humanity’’… Since when has it been the role of our
political leaders to play to base fear and hatred, to racism and
meanness for nothing more than political gain and point-scoring? ...
they pander to the thick vein of isolationism and racism that runs deep
in this island nation… playing the fear and racism card… Our leaders
have shown thus far they are hollow men. They stand for nothing other
than getting into power or staying in power. They have abandoned all
moral direction on this issue… It makes us look mean, not compassionate;
racist, not tolerant… I don’t want to live in a country whose leaders
stand for nothing; who play to racism, inwardness and self-interest.

What is striking about this lavish and self-congratulatory abuse is the
almost total lack of argument or any consideration of consequences of
the finer feelings Boas praises.
Take his attempt to draw a distinction between nice Europe and evil
Australia, between the continent that actually produced fascism and one
that fought it:

Just look at the contrasting response of Europe to the drowning of
hundreds of African asylum seekers on their way to the Italian isle of
Lampedusa - tens of millions of euros to assist in rescue operations,
calls for unity of action, but most significantly compassion for those
lost at sea. In Australia, it seems compassion has been completely
drained from the discussion about asylum seekers. Apart from the
perfunctory - and completely disingenuous - expressions of sorrow for
the dead, ALP and Coalition politicians are falling over themselves to
talk tough about boat arrivals.

See his trick? Sure, our politicians, like Europe’s, have expressed
compassion for those who’ve drowned at sea. But Boas insists that the
compassion expressed by our politicians was “perfunctory” and
“completely disingenuous”, while Europe’s politicians had a “contrasting
response” that was, presumably, sincere. How does he know any of this?
How can he tell? This strikes me as his prejudices talking.
Boas also notes that Europe’s “contrasting response” has it committing
“tens of millions of euros to assist in rescue operations”, but that is
not a contrast at all. Australia spends significant amounts on search
and rescue operations involving boat people, sending ships to save
people as close as 60km from the Indonesian coast.
But the more important thing is this. A policy is best judged by its
results, not the tears in the eyes and the fine speeches of those who
propose it. Boas thinks Europe shows “compassion” by promising some
unspecified “unity of action” after the deaths of hundreds of boat
people, while Australia allegedly shows none by actually tacking action
that is sure to stop the drownings in the first place.
And indeed, days after hundreds of boat people died off Lampedusa, dozens more drowned off Malta.
The greater “compassion” Boas perceives in Europe is unlikely to lead
to any diminution of deaths at sea (and ethnic tensions at home). Rather
the reverse.
The message, then? For Boas, it seems, boat people do not exist as real
people with real motives and real choices and posing real problems for
the countries they are trying to get smuggled into. They are barely
even abstract concepts. They are instead a mirror in which the likes of
Boas can admire their goodness, shining like gold from the dirt that is
everyone else.
This is a piece written by the vain, not the moral.

He is expected to be replaced by Deborah O’Neill, who lost the central
coast seat of Robertson, although Mike Kelly, who held Eden-Monaro, has
expressed an interest, as has Senator Carr’s chief of staff Graeme
Wedderburn, once promised a position in the Senate in exchange for
working for former premier Nathan Rees.

And Labor’s new foreign affairs spokesman comes, like Carr, from the modern tradition of anti-Israel posturing:

His likely successor, Tanya Plibersek, faced calls yesterday to recant
her decade-old anti-Israel comments. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop
called on the new Labor deputy leader to publicly repudiate comments she
made in 2002 when she labelled Israel a “rogue state”.

The ancient tragedians - Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides – have as a
central theme in their works the element of hubris – overweening pride –
that afflicts each of their protagonists.
Hubris has a habit of afflicting many of those who accrete power; even
those who accrete fame or notoriety. It is usually the cause of their
undoing…
During the Roman Triumph..., where the victorious general paraded
through the streets of Rome, painted in blood and wearing purple, riding
on a chariot drawn by four horses, a slave whispered into his ear:
“momento mori” (remember, you are but a man)…
In later times, for example under Elizabeth I, the Court employed a
fool. A person who is licensed to say the unsayable and to mock the
ruler mercilessly. The fool, frequently dressed as a clown or a
harlequin, entertained the Court but warned by the use of satire…
In Shakespeare’s King Lear, the fool is the only person who not only
speaks wisely but is not punished for doing so… Queen Elizabeth (reigned
1558–1603) is said to have rebuked one of her fools for being
insufficiently severe with her....
Where was the fool under Kevin Rudd? Not only was Rudd badly affected by
hubris, but he sought to reduce our freedom of speech. Yet there was no
fool who could mock him at Cabinet meetings. Rudd’s regime was brought
low by himself, but also by the lack of a fool.
Bring back the fool!

But another question: who is Tony Abbott’s fool? Bill Heffernan?
Agreed, Abbott doesn’t not suffer from Rudd-style hubris. Yet no leader
can afford to be without someone prepared to mock him.

Don Randall must explain why this is not a deceitful and highly improper use of taxpayers’ money:

WEST Australian MP Don Randall insists he was entitled to claim expenses
including more than $5000 for a trip to Cairns on “electorate
business’’ ...
The MP for Canning initially refused to answer questions about the
latest expenses furore to hit the Liberals, but issued a statement late
today in which he said .. “The claims relating to travel were
appropriately acquitted with the Department of Finance.’’
Mr Randall updated his pecuniary interests register days after his overnight stay in Cairns in November 2012 to confirm he had taken possession of an investment property in Queensland.

IS IT just that I’ve hit 54 and become more cranky? Or has the presumption of some people this week finally crossed a line?
Sure, we’ve tolerated for an absurdly long time the pushy politicians,
activists and special interests helping themselves to our wallets and
our freedoms.
Too rarely have they been called out for treating the rest of us as mere
props or money-trees. Or as fools who’ll accept rubbish excuses while
the imposters just help themselves to what isn’t theirs.
But this week we haven’t just had former Labor president Michael
Williamson plead guilty to defrauding his Health Service Union members
of $1 million, on top of his $500,000 a year salary. We’ve also heard a
cacophony of oinking and snuffling and bellowing from people with a
truly outsized sense of entitlement and no seeming shame about it.
Some examples?
Mining “billionaire” Clive Palmer owes $6 million in carbon tax penalties on his businesses.
(Read full article here.)

“The compromise we reached will provide our economy with the stability
it desperately needs,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said after he
and his GOP counterpart, Sen. Mitch McConnell, struck the deal…
The agreement by Mr. Reid and Mr. McConnell signals the bill should
clear the Senate, but it must also survive the House, where Republicans
have the majority but leaders have shown little ability to control the
floor. The legislation will likely require House Democrats to provide
the majority of support.
The deal would reopen the government with a stopgap spending bill
running to Jan. 15, and would extend the government’s borrowing
authority through at least Feb. 7… The only major concession Republicans
won was to include strict income monitoring of those seeking taxpayer
subsidies under Obamacare.
Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who led the GOP into its stance to
withhold government funding until President Obama canceled the health
care law, said Wednesday he had no regrets, and blamed his Republican
colleagues for not backing his effort.

JUST about everything you have read or heard about the US political
brawl over spending, Obamacare and the debt ceiling, is almost certainly
wrong.
In particular, that the whole world has been taken right to the edge of a
financial crash at least as bad and indeed likely to be much more
dramatic and more fundamentally destructive than the Global Financial
Crisis, thanks to crazy Republican Tea Party extremists…
The truth is, [default] would only happen if the Obama administration
deliberately chose to break not just the law but its fundamental
constitutional obligations…
First, the US government is constitutionally required to prioritise its
debt obligations. Secondly, self-evidently, it can repay debt maturities
with new borrowings - as that would not increase its total debt…
The debt ceiling is one part of a much broader, more fundamental and
indeed existential battle underway in the US - caricatured asininely by
the media there and here as crazy extremist Tea Party types prepared -
indeed wanting - to topple the whole structure of government in the US…
Just maybe, some Americans might think that running a government where
20c or so of every dollar it spends has to be borrowed, can only end in
tears…
All this is mere byplay to the fundamental problem, that under Obama, a
big structural deficit has opened up, with the government now spending
about 4 per cent more of GDP than in 2001.

BRITISH actor Bill Nighy is one of us - like Emma Watson, Tony Abbott and probably you. Me, too.
Nighy, languid star of Love Actually, told the Sydney Morning Herald
this week it took years before he considered himself a real actor.
“I went along feeling like I was helping (real actors) out when they were busy ...
“But I don’t think that’s unusual. I think there are a lot of people in a
lot of jobs who think that any minute someone is going to tap them on
the shoulder and say ‘what are you doing here?’ “
My word, there are.
(Read full article here.)

The ABC in particular runs a constant
propaganda campaign in favour of the idea that the world is moving to
put a price on carbon…
But here are some actual facts. The UN Framework Convention on Climate
has 195 members. Only 34 of those use anything resembling an emissions
trading scheme. Of those, 27 are in the EU scheme…
What about these Chinese schemes we hear so much about on the ABC? There
are seven designated pilot projects in China. One - that’s right, one -
has begun operation. That is in Shenzhen. So far all the permits are
given away for free…
Japan has effectively abandoned plans for an ETS...South Korea has a
plan, but it will issue all permits for free in the first period and is
looking to redesign its scheme partly to avoid the impact on electricity
prices, which Australia’s scheme had. New Zealand has a notional
scheme, but the price is a meaningless $1 per tonne.
The US has no carbon tax or ETS and is unlikely ever to have one. The
separate Californian scheme ... covers only 37 per cent of emissions,
compared with the Australian tax that covered 60 per cent of our
emissions. More importantly, in California, 90 per cent of permits for
electricity are given for free.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative covers several northern states in
the US. But the price is $2.55 per tonne and it covers only
electricity.
Canada does not have an ETS or a carbon tax. The Quebec scheme covers a
minority of emissions and because the province is so reliant on
hydro-electricity the scheme has little impact…
The European scheme has a price of about $7. Famously, ... in its first
five years it tended to raise about $500 million a year whereas our
carbon tax raised $9 billion a year.

Remember when we had a government that lied to us about being left behind if we didn’t have its carbon tax?

“It’s clear that many countries around the world are taking steps to
reduce carbon pollution,” [Climate Change Minister Greg Combet] told ABC
radio…
Wayne Swan also said that “every policy to reduce carbon pollution puts
an effective price on carbon, even if that price isn’t immediately
obvious”.
“Countries around the world are taking action to reduce carbon pollution
and an open trading nation like Australia can’t afford to be left
behind,” the Treasurer said.

TANYA Plibersek, everyone’s favourite political girl crush, has been
announced as the deputy Opposition Leader in Canberra today… We can look
forward to the conservative commentators whinging about quotas, EMILY’s
List and the importance of meritocracies ... And, regrettably, we will
probably witness some of the heinous sexism that reared its ugly head
under Gillard’s leadership. (Indeed, we already have. Let us not forget
that Bob Hawke warned against the viability of Plibersek taking on the
top job because she is the parent of a three-year-old.

Call off the hit squad! Tanya Plibersek on ABC RN Breakfast on Tuesday:

ACTUALLY I feel quite embarrassed about Bob Hawke getting a hard time
about that. He asked me before the election, you know, if it all goes
badly will you stand for leader? And I had frankly not ever contemplated
that. So I just said the first thing that came into my head, which is I
just don’t know how I would manage the responsibility and the extra
travel. All that, you know, whole range of complications ... And poor
old Bob just repeated all that and got into all sorts of trouble, but it
is a big responsibility and I’m just very sorry that poor old Bob
copped it.
Alison Carabine: OK so we’ll have to all ease up on Bob Hawke.
Plibersek: Pull back, pull back, Alison.

UPDATE
Reader Charles:

A perfect little example of the chummy collusion that is the
relationship between the ALP and the ABC, particularly on sycophantic
ABC Radio.

Alison Carabine: OK so we’ll have to all ease up on Bob Hawke.
Plibersek: Pull back, pull back, Alison.

They probably don’t even realise that there is anything wrong with carrying on like this.

UNION crook Michael Williamson’s now estranged wife Julie-Anne
Williamson will walk away with well over $1 million of her husband’s
superannuation in an agreement he reached with the Health Services Union
over his crimes.
The union says it did not want to give Mr Williamson a dime, as he has
agreed he already owes it $5 million, but it is understood the
unemployed former union boss has been given $20,000 and Mrs Williamson,
having filed for divorce, was going to be entitled to half his “defined
benefits” superannuation so union lawyers settled with her.
Had she not filed to leave her husband, she would not have received that settlement.

And when her name did make it on to your radar, it was probably accompanied by words like "judgmental", "fat-shamer" and "bully".

Without meaning to, the LA-based mother-of-three sparked a war on Facebook when she posted a photo of herself dressed in fitness gear, showing off her super-toned abs, surrounded by her three little boys.

Harmless enough under normal circumstances, but at the top of the photograph, Kang asks What's your excuse?

Intelligent crooks are rarely caught, it is the dumb ones who invariably fall victim to their own stupidity. A small story I found in the New York Times told of notorious Somalian pirate, kingpin Mohamed Abdi Hassan (nicknamed Bigmouth) who was demanding Western millions for the return of ships and oil tankers the size of aircraft carriers and their crews.

Belgian authorities, who had suffered piracy at the hands of Bigmouth, had had enough of this bloke and came up with a novel approach to capture him.

They did some investigating to find out exactly what made Bigmouth tick. They discovered it was vanity. He saw himself as a Somalian hero, a Capt. Jack Sparrow, a revered swashbuckling pirate who bravely plied the Gulf of Aden in the pursuit of notoriety and riches.

What happened next was almost predictable.

The authorities offered him the leading role in a blockbuster Hollywood movie bearing his name: “Captain Hassan, Pirate King”.

Bigmouth must have come in his kaftan because he and his crew members, who were also offered parts, rushed to Brussells to sign contracts.

Of course they were arrested on arrival.

Belgian ingenuity has meant that the incidence of piracy off the Somali coastal has dropped by 75% and the UN reports that not one successful attempt has been made in the past year.

Perhaps craftiness is mightier than the cutlass.
===HISTORY IN THE HEADLINES: On October 16, 1793, the 37-year-old former queen of France was put to death just hours after being convicted of treason. On the 220th anniversary of her execution, learn 10 surprising facts about Marie Antoinette.http://histv.co/19NjXLE
===

President Obama’s position of no negotiation took us to the brink of government default to advance his political agenda over the best interests of the American people. Republicans were the adults in the room, offering compromise after compromise and urging the President to come to the table and do what’s right for our country.

President Obama may have won an immediate political battle for his radical agenda but it comes at a great cost to the economy, to our health care system, and to the American people. It means we will continue on the same trajectory towards economic decline, skyrocketing national debt, and greater government intrusion in our health care.

After an embarrassing two weeks of Obamacare failures, I hope President Obama will soon realize that forcing every American to purchase a health insurance policy that they don’t want at a price they can’t afford from a website that doesn’t work is not a sustainable course of action.

I could not vote for this bill as it does nothing to give relief to the countless Americans hurting under Obamacare, nor does it address our out of control spending and $17 trillion national debt.

Todd and I were proud to stand with Mark Levin and other bold, patriotic warriors in support of Steve Lonegan in the New Jersey Senate race! Mayor Lonegan fought the good fight, and he and his supporters have not “finished the race,” they’ve just begun! The press has now called the race for Barack Obama’s celebrity stand-in, Cory Booker, but rest assured that Steve fought gallantly for every vote that would have led to American solvency and exceptionalism. Steve is a lucky guy to have a strong New Jersey wife and two great daughters who supported him through this campaign. We so enjoyed getting to know them, as their passion and love for this country inspired us. Looking at Steve’s life story should remind all of us to never be afraid to climb a mountain, no matter how high. Steve energized commonsense conservatives all across the country. And though it’s sad, it’s not surprising to see the far left lapdog media finally cover this race tonight (once their chosen one was deemed the victor, but not previously when voters deserved to hear of Lonegan’s successful small-government record and intentions to defend our republic).

Tonight’s press coverage of the status quo antics in Washington, D.C. energize us further. Tonight’s New Jersey race was a win for Barack Obama, and the Senate deal in D.C. was a loss for the American people replete with more back-room deals, billion dollar corrupt earmark kickbacks, and weak leadership unwilling to stand up for the people who sent them to Washington. What happened in D.C. tonight reminds us of how hard we must fight in 2014 to return to a government of the people, by the people, for the people. These politicians work for us, and yet a new poll accurately reflects that just 13% of us feel as though this country that we love is on the right track. The way forward is to elect leaders who will listen to us; and if they don’t, we must hold them accountable on election day – no matter what party. Let’s commit to continue to be in the trenches fighting for those who stand on principle over politics, despite the odds.

Friends, do not be discouraged by the shenanigans of D.C.’s permanent political class today. Be energized. We’re going to shake things up in 2014. Rest well tonight, for soon we must focus on important House and Senate races. Let’s start with Kentucky – which happens to be awfully close to South Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi – from sea to shining sea we will not give up. We’ve only just begun to fight.

My thoughs and prayers are with my friends and their families as well as everyone else that lives in the Wollondilly and Camden shires who are affected by the bush fires. There are gale force winds and really high tempratures. God bless the fire fighters putting their lives at risk to save others.

===I vow to limit myself to a few slices .. ed
===

The Theme: It's Halloween and you're in a horror movie. Choosing the first 9 people in your chat box.

In a wide-ranging speech on Wednesday night, the former attorney general labelled Kevin Rudd a "bastard" and a destabilising influence, urging the former prime minister to leave parliament for the good of the party.

Ms Roxon, who was one of Julia Gillard’s closest political allies and who also served as health minister, said Mr Rudd had a vicious tongue and temper and had treated brilliant people terribly.She would have said exactly the same better before the election .. but she has contempt for voters. - ed
===<How to lose your freedom, become unemployable, and lose your right to vote...in one easy lesson. Do some not *get* Homeland Security is real, and TSA hasn't been taking shit for a dozen years now? Can't bring 3 ounces of shampoo on board, let alone a dry ice b*mb. We take off shoes, get full-body x-rayed--can't mention a word that starts and ends with a "b" in an airport without being tackled (I don't even risk it and say, "Bob")--but this guy sets off a dry ice prank at an airport! Is there a factory producing these people? (No shortage.) Guy--if you know you're going to prison after a prank--at least get video for YouTube! Well, he's probably already got a neck tattoo...he'll fit right in.>
===<How Labor will write its own suicide note if it tries to block Abbott's carbon tax repeal.>
===

===
===When life gives you lemons, at this point make margaritas. Caving on debt could drive one to drink.

This photo of my son and nephew ran in our local newspaper about 15 years ago. I’m betting dollars to doughnuts our president skipped this universal childhood lesson in Economics 101, and perhaps that explains his problem understanding the tragedy to befall us as America drowns in debt. Running a lemonade stand teaches you to progress by the sweat of your brow and live within your means. It taught these boys that it was unacceptable and self-defeating to keep coming back to mama for more money for ingredients needed to concoct a product to sell to the public. Obviously more debt means less progress and opportunity to expand. Anyone who has run a business knows more debt equals less profit, and less profit means less ability to grow operations, employ more people, and even hold your head high above shortsighted economic decisions that history proves lead to failure.

All these lessons about the kids’ lemonade stand and economic freedom apply to our families’ budgets, our businesses, and most certainly our government. We cannot borrow our way to prosperity. We’re in a deep hole; quit digging. We cannot ignore the economic realities of bankruptcy.

President Obama is giddily enthused now about growing more debt, but just a few years prior when he was still a senator, he scolded America, proclaiming: “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure.…Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally.” And on July 3, 2008, he declared, “driving up our national debt from $5 trillion dollars to $9 trillion is irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic.” If it was irresponsible and unpatriotic at $5 trillion, what is it at $17 trillion?

Was he lying then or now?

Mr. President, boys and girls all across our great nation would no doubt share their lessons learned about the danger of debt. It’s our posterity you've made insecure when you doubled our national debt since taking office, which violates the preamble of our Constitution which speaks of securing “the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” How can we secure our liberty when we’re hopelessly in debt to foreign nations? You said today that the cool thing about being President is you can “pick up the phone and call anyone in the world and they’ll answer.” Call Track and Payton. I’m sure your NSA and IRS have their numbers.

Who do you share your deepest secrets with? Most people only share their inner thoughts with those who are closest to them. People they trust. People they’ve gone through experiences with. Do you know who God share’s His secrets with? This passage goes on to say, “Who can know a man’s thoughts except his own spirit?” In other words, God’s Spirit knows His thoughts. As believers, His Spirit lives inside of us, revealing to us the heart and thoughts of God Himself.“That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.’ But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.”(1 Corinthians 2:9–10)

God wants you to know what He thinks about you. He wants you to know about the plans He has for you. He wants to show you things you’ve never seen, heard about or even imagined. As a believer in Jesus, you are His child, but you are also His friend. He wants you as His closest companion. He wants to walk with you, talk with and share with you. What a wonderful, amazing thought — we can know God’s thoughts because we are one with Him. Open your heart and allow Him to share His deep secrets with you today.God bless you.

=

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?(Romans 8:31)Think about that for a moment. The same God who created the heavens and earth, the one who spoke the universe into existence and knows everything about you, He is on your side and wants the best for you. I love today’s verse because it is a great reminder that when God is for you, no one can win against you. Not the pain of your past. Not any mistake you’ve made. Not the forces of hell, your worst enemy, a bad economy, a difficult housing market or anything else on this earth.

Scripture tells us that God is gracious, patient and loving, that He is forgiving and doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve. Scripture tells us that God is for us, and if God is for us, who can be against us? With God on your side, you are headed for victory,God bless you.

Just finished rehearsing to present the#WorshipAlbumOfTheYear in Nashville tonight at the 44th GMA Dove Awards.2013 Nominees are "All Sons and Daughters:Live", "Burning Lights" (Chris Tomlin) , "Let The Future Begin" (Passion), "Worth It All" (Meredith Andrews), and "White Flag" (Passion). All 5 albums are Spirit-inspired and quite moving. I'm glad I wasn't responsible for having to choose between my friends!=Cool! Saddleback students using #ClashOfClansgame to invite players to church. Check this out:
===
===ALL ALONG THE DRY LINE

Sick at home with the traditional Fall Season cold bug, feeling uckeee... decided to bide my time working through some old storm chase images with some new post processing techniques.

Here's the story:

May 31, 2010. Just a little South East of Boise City in the panhandle of Oklahoma. To my left, outside of this picture frame, a Mothership was spinning and getting ready to drop another tornado. The air was hot and thick and electrically charged. The chances to see anything happen on this day were slim, but the warm humid air colliding with the dry cold air had something else in mind. — atOklahoma!
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The Turkish-Israeli relationship became so poisonous early last year that the Turkish government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is said to have disclosed to Iranian intelligence the identities of up to 10 Iranians who had been meeting inside Turkey with their Mossad case officers.

Knowledgeable sources describe the Turkish action as a “significant” loss of intelligence and “an effort to slap the Israelis.” The incident, disclosed here for the first time, illustrates the bitter, multi-dimensional spy wars that lie behind the current negotiations between Iran and Western nations over a deal to limit the Iranian nuclear program. A Turkish Embassy spokesman had no comment.===

===Almost a quarter of respondents in a major survey of Jews from nine European countries said they avoid visiting places and wearing symbols that identify them as Jews for fear of anti-Semitism.http://www.timesofisrael.com/fearful-of-anti-semitism-22-of-european-jews-hide-identity/That is not how I want my world to be. My auntie is quite elderly now, she studied psychology as a mature age student and recalls that there are three inherited characteristics of personality .. emotionality, activity and perseverance .. and she reckons Jewish people score highly in all three so Jewish culture promotes discipline within family because the children .. and adults are very active, persistent and strongly emotional .. just a theory .. but she has to explain how her mum had three children who shook the world in their fields .. and whose grand children do the same .. - ed
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GIANT Turkish flag is seen displayed on the side of a mountain near Nicosia in Turk-occupied Cyprus Photo: reuters

A delegation of European Union officials arrived in Israel this week to discuss the European Commission’s proposed regulations for discretionary funding to Israeli entities.
Under guidelines prepared earlier this summer, euros would not be allowed to go to Israeli entities located cross the Green Line – or to those that have any operations there. All Israeli entities applying for funding would have to submit a declaration that they do not have such operations.
Europe claims that such a move – unparalleled in its dealings with any other country – is mandated by international law. The EU does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the territories, and thus has an obligation to keep its money from going there. Those who celebrated the move said that Israel is finally paying the international price for its occupation.
Yet it turns out that despite the guidelines, the EU still knowingly and purposefully provides substantial direct financial assistance to settlements in occupied territory – in Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus, that is. So the EU funds the occupation of an EU member state. Turkey’s invasion and occupation of Cyprus in 1974 was condemned the UN Security Council, and the EU’s official policy is that the Turkish occupation is illegitimate, and Turkey must completely withdraw. The EU does not recognize the Turkish government in Northern Cyprus.

Did they not get the memo that Israel is treating Syrian casualties while hundreds of thousands of Syrians are being massacred, by Iran and Syria, on one side, and radical Muslim terrorists supported by other Arab countries on the other side?See the video report here.

FEATURED VIDEOS

International law is on Israel's side. Watch the video to understand why!

This must be one of the best video presentations that clearly explains international law and the legal case for Israel and Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria. Definitely watch this to have a better understanding of international law so you can talk about Israel's situation intelligently with others.

What a unique honey dish! People will want to ooh and aah over it whenever they see it! The pomegranate form (a classic Jewish decorative motif) has been decorated with 24K gold plating in places, as well as numerous highlights of iridescent enamel and Amber crystals.

The IDNS is a daily roundup of everything you need to know about how the media is covering Israel, all in one place for easy reference, delivered directly to your inbox every morning. Want to receive weekly Bias Alerts? Manage your subscriptions. Please tell your friends to learn more and sign up here.

Join more than 150,000 people demanding fair media coverage. HonestReporting was formed in 2000 to respond to unfair coverage against Israel in the wake of the second Intifada. Since then, it's prompted hundreds of corrections and retractions. Stay informed on all media issues by signing up to HR's weekly bias alert emails.

Join over 26,000 who have already signed our petition calling for the media to adopt U.S. and EU Definitions of Anti-Semitism. Sign the petition now...

Mission to Israel Nov 18-26, 2013 - LAST FEW PLACES AVAILABLE!

Now is the time to find out what's REALLY going in on the Middle East. Join us for a full week of meetings with policy makers, security briefings, trips to the hotspots in the news, and much more. Emailhrmission@honestreporting.com or call (847) 745 8284 (EST+7) or in Israel (972) 54 239-2574 for more information.

Morning

In these words the believer is invited to a holy nearness to Jesus. "Come and dine," implies the same table, the same meat; aye, and sometimes it means to sit side by side, and lean our head upon the Saviour's bosom. It is being brought into the banqueting-house, where waves the banner of redeeming love. "Come and dine," gives us a vision of union with Jesus, because the only food that we can feast upon when we dine with Jesus is himself. Oh, what union is this! It is a depth which reason cannot fathom, that we thus feed upon Jesus. "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." It is also an invitation to enjoy fellowship with the saints. Christians may differ on a variety of points, but they have all one spiritual appetite; and if we cannot all feel alike, we can all feed alike on the bread of life sent down from heaven. At the table of fellowship with Jesus we are one bread and one cup. As the loving cup goes round we pledge one another heartily therein. Get nearer to Jesus, and you will find yourself linked more and more in spirit to all who are like yourself, supported by the same heavenly manna. If we were more near to Jesus we should be more near to one another. We likewise see in these words the source of strength for every Christian. To look at Christ is to live, but for strength to serve him you must "come and dine." We labour under much unnecessary weakness on account of neglecting this precept of the Master. We none of us need to put ourselves on low diet; on the contrary, we should fatten on the marrow and fatness of the gospel that we may accumulate strength therein, and urge every power to its full tension in the Master's service. Thus, then, if you would realize nearness to Jesus, union with Jesus, love to his people and strength from Jesus, "come and dine" with him by faith.

Evening

There are times in our spiritual experience when human counsel or sympathy, or religious ordinances, fail to comfort or help us. Why does our gracious God permit this? Perhaps it is because we have been living too much without him, and he therefore takes away everything upon which we have been in the habit of depending, that he may drive us to himself. It is a blessed thing to live at the fountain head. While our skin- bottles are full, we are content, like Hagar and Ishmael, to go into the wilderness; but when those are dry, nothing will serve us but "Thou God seest me." We are like the prodigal, we love the swine-troughs and forget our Father's house. Remember, we can make swine-troughs and husks even out of the forms of religion; they are blessed things, but we may put them in God's place, and then they are of no value. Anything becomes an idol when it keeps us away from God: even the brazen serpent is to be despised as "Nehushtan," if we worship it instead of God. The prodigal was never safer than when he was driven to his father's bosom, because he could find sustenance nowhere else. Our Lord favours us with a famine in the land that it may make us seek after himself the more. The best position for a Christian is living wholly and directly on God's grace--still abiding where he stood at first--"Having nothing, and yet possessing all things." Let us never for a moment think that our standing is in our sanctification, our mortification, our graces, or our feelings, but know that because Christ offered a full atonement, therefore we are saved; for we are complete in him. Having nothing of our own to trust to, but resting upon the merits of Jesus--his passion and holy life furnish us with the only sure ground of confidence. Beloved, when we are brought to a thirsting condition, we are sure to turn to the fountain of life with eagerness.

Today's Old Testament reading: Isaiah 47-49

1 “Go down, sit in the dust,Virgin Daughter Babylon;sit on the ground without a throne,queen city of the Babylonians.No more will you be calledtender or delicate.2 Take millstones and grind flour;take off your veil.Lift up your skirts, bare your legs,and wade through the streams.3 Your nakedness will be exposedand your shame uncovered.I will take vengeance;I will spare no one.”

4 Our Redeemer—the LORD Almighty is his name—is the Holy One of Israel.

5 “Sit in silence, go into darkness,queen city of the Babylonians;no more will you be calledqueen of kingdoms.6 I was angry with my peopleand desecrated my inheritance;I gave them into your hand,and you showed them no mercy.Even on the agedyou laid a very heavy yoke.7 You said, ‘I am forever—the eternal queen!’But you did not consider these thingsor reflect on what might happen.

Today's New Testament reading: 1 Thessalonians 4

Living to Please God

1 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

9 Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody....

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About Me

I'm author of History in a Year by the Conservative Voice aka History of the World in a Year by the Conservative Voice.

I'm the Conservative Voice.

I'm looking to make contact with those who might use my skill.

I have an m-audio mobile pre amp fed by the audiotechnica 2041sp condensor mic pack. Prior to 15/4/06, I'd used a Shure sm-58 that required a nuclear blast to register a sound or the internal mic of my aged imac, which has a penchance to recording my breathing. I also used a Griffin itrip, until the community convinced me it was not hiding my talent as well as the other mics.

I am a Writer and an occasional Math Teacher (Sir, what's the occasion?). I like to sing, having no instrumental talent (cannot even clap in time, and yes, I'm aware singing badly IS obnoxious).

I have performed the finale to Les Miserables before an audience of 500. I have also sung before a similar audience (students, parents) renditions of 'I Will' (Beatles), 'Mr Cairo' (Jon Vangelis) and 'I am Australian' (Seekers). Now I seek another profession because the audience hates me ..